There are a number of current trends in the building industry, including trends towards smaller lot sizes, larger houses with more open spaces, and a greater focus placed on site safety, which have given rise to comparatively more large and heavy components and an increased use of cranes, scaffolding, and systems to protect installers working at heights, with attendant increases in site costs. Becoming increasingly more attractive and competitive, therefore, is offsite prefabrication of components, panels, and modules, including in particular floor panels or “cassettes”.
Such cassettes require foundations. The traditional poured concrete slab foundation, given its inbuilt inaccuracies and susceptibility to movement under adverse conditions, as well as the level of skill required to install it satisfactorily and the relatively long time required for it to cure, is increasingly being replaced with quicker, simpler and cheaper foundations. Where the site is sloping or the floor level is to be raised above the natural ground level, there is generally a need for a post/column, which commonly comprises a square hollow steel section, and fittings at either end of it to connect it at its top end to the floor system and at its bottom end to the foundation system. It is important that these fittings be as economical, versatile, and quick-to-install as possible.